A Honda Family Legacy — Since 1998

ROAD TO
1 MILLION
MILES ON HONDA

Nearly 30 years. Four Honda & Acura vehicles. 872,985 miles driven.
A known manufacturing defect is trying to stop us at the finish line.

Miles Driven on Honda/Acura
8
7
2
,
9
8
5
Miles to Goal
1
2
7
,
0
1
5
0 Miles 87.3% Complete 1,000,000 Miles
⚠ File NHTSA Complaint Read Our Story See The Data
Where It All Began

PURPLE RAIN

"My father gave me a 1998 Honda Accord for my birthday. I named her Purple Rain. That was the beginning of everything."

That deep currant-colored Accord became more than just a car — it became a 30-year relationship with Honda. I drove Purple Rain for 23 years and 317,000 miles. Not once did Honda let me down.

I trusted Honda so much that I convinced my girlfriend to buy a brand-new 2005 Acura TL. She became my wife. I surprised her with a 2017 Acura MDX in June 2019 — a Honda/Acura family moment captured in that photo with the red bow.

In September 2022, I bought my son a 2019 Honda Accord Sport 1.5L — purchased used with approximately 56,000 miles — ahead of schedule, by design. The plan was deliberate: purchase it early so the car would be fully paid off before he turns 16 in July 2026, accounting for the insurance cost increase that comes with a teenage driver. The vision was for my son to drive it an additional 150,000 miles beyond where it sits today — a completely reasonable goal for a Honda. I've done it before. Twice. That was the plan.

Now that 2019 Accord sits at a dealership with a blown head gasket caused by a defect Honda has known about for years. My son may be forced to start his driving life in a different brand. My 7-year-old daughter may never know what it means to drive a Honda.

Honda Corporate holds the fate of a family tradition that started with a gift from my late father.

1998 Honda Accord - Purple Rain
1998 Honda Accord — "Purple Rain"
2005 Acura TL
2005 Acura TL
2017 Acura MDX - Wife's Surprise
2017 Acura MDX — Wife's Surprise
2019 Honda Accord - Son's Car
2019 Honda Accord — In Crisis
A Honda Family Fleet

FOUR VEHICLES.
ONE BRAND. ONE DEFECT.

Every vehicle in our family has carried a Honda or Acura badge. Until a known manufacturing defect threatened to end that legacy.

1998 Honda Accord
1998
Honda Accord
317,000
Miles driven
"Purple Rain" — birthday gift from my late father. My first car. The beginning of a 30-year Honda loyalty. Drove it 23 years.
2005 Acura TL
2005
Acura TL
270,000
Miles driven
Convinced my girlfriend to buy this brand new. She became my wife. 17 years of flawless Honda reliability.
2017 Acura MDX
2017
Acura MDX
173,000
Miles — Still going strong
Surprised my wife with this on the driveway in June 2019. Still running perfectly at 173K miles. Proof we maintain our vehicles.
2019 Honda Accord
2019
Honda Accord Sport
112,985
Miles — Blown head gasket
Purchased used in September 2022 with ~56,000 miles. Bought early so it would be fully paid off by son's 16th birthday (July 2026). Now at 112,985 miles — the goal was an additional 150,000 miles of reliable Honda driving. A known defect is threatening to end that before it begins. Repair estimate: $4,799.81.
872,985
Total Miles Driven
on Honda/Acura
127,015
Miles Remaining
to 1,000,000
28 yrs
Years as a Honda/
Acura Customer
$0
Prior Complaints
Against Honda
Honda Knew

TWO MEMOS.
THREE YEARS.
NO RECALL.

American Honda's own Technical Information & Support Group issued Priority/Action Required memos in 2023 and 2024 — actively investigating the exact failure in my vehicle. Yet no recall was issued.

APR 2023
Honda Internal Memo #1 — Priority/Action Required

AHM investigating 2018-2019 Accord 1.5L head gasket failures. Collecting vehicle parts. Qualifiers: P030X misfire codes, borescope-confirmed coolant leak to cylinder.

AUG 2024
Honda Internal Memo #2 — Priority/Action Required

Investigation expanded to 2018-2022 Accords and CR-Vs. Same failure. Still no recall. Customers not notified. Problem persists 16 months later.

MAR 2026
My 2019 Accord — Cylinder 3 Head Gasket Failure

Confirmed by CTR test (Hond-Auto Specialist, Mar 2) and borescope (Vandergriff Honda, Mar 23). Repair estimate: $4,799.81. Honda denied goodwill.

TODAY
Honda Corporate Denial

"The vehicle is outside the manufacturer warranty by several years and almost 80,000 miles." No acknowledgment of their own internal investigation memos.

⚠ Priority / Action Required American Honda Motor Co.
April 13, 2023
RE: Request for Parts — 2018-2019 Accord 1.5L MIL On w/ DTC P030X Stored
AHM is searching for certain 2018-2019 Accord 1.5L vehicles with MIL on and cylinder misfire codes stored. Coolant leak to cylinder confirmed by borescope or pressure test required. Honda actively collecting parts to investigate root cause.
⚠ Priority / Action Required American Honda Motor Co.
August 15, 2024
RE: Request for Parts — 2017-2022 Accord/CR-V 1.5L & FHEV MIL On DTC P030X Stored
Investigation expanded. Now includes 2018-2022 Accords, 2017-2022 CR-Vs, and FHEVs. Same qualifiers. Same failure. 16 months after first memo — still investigating, still no recall, still no customer notification.
Affected Vehicles Named in Class Action
2018–2022 Honda Accord
2016–2022 Honda Civic
2017–2022 Honda CR-V
2021–2022 Acura RDX
2019–2022 Acura TLX
Bissell v. Honda (Dec 2024) & Alcantara v. Honda (Jul 2025) — Two federal class actions, U.S. District Courts, California
The Data

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Hundreds of Honda owners have reported the same defect. The numbers tell a story Honda cannot ignore.

1,488+
NHTSA Complaints
2018 Accord Alone
3+
Years Honda Was
Aware of Defect
5
Vehicle Models
Affected
$4.8K–$13K
Repair Cost Range
Per Owner
Reported Repair Costs
Head gasket repair estimates from Honda owners nationwide — up to $13,000 when engine replacement is required
This Case
$4,799
Owner #2
$5,700
Owner #3
$6,600
Owner #4
$7,800
Engine Repl.
Up to $13,000
⚠ When teardown reveals additional engine damage, repair costs can escalate to full engine replacement — $10,000–$13,000+. Owners are not warned of this risk upfront.
Miles at Time of Failure
Most failures occur between 60K–130K miles — well within reasonable engine life
40–60K
Early failures
60–80K
Most common
80–100K
Peak failures
100–130K
High frequency
130K+
Ongoing
Honda Goodwill Outcomes
Based on reported owner experiences across forums & complaints
GOOD WILL
~45% DeniedLike this case — first response denial
~35% Partial50–75% covered after escalation
~20% Full100% covered — often via dealer mgr
Complaints by Model Year
Honda Accord head gasket failures reported to NHTSA & CarComplaints
2018
Highest — 1,488+ NHTSA
2019
High — ongoing
2020
Moderate
2021
Growing
2022
Emerging
Repairs Range $4,800 – $13,000+
Head gasket replacement starts near $5K. When teardown reveals deeper engine damage, costs can reach $13,000 — approaching or exceeding the car's value.
Honda Dealers See It Daily
Multiple dealers have told owners point-blank they are seeing a high number of 1.5L head gasket failures — yet Honda issues no recall.
Goodwill IS Being Approved
One owner paid just $250 deductible after dealer manager called Honda directly. Another got 100% covered. Escalation works.
Honda's Response

THE DENIAL.

After submitting a detailed goodwill request with evidence of Honda's own internal memos, this was the response.

📞
American Honda Case Manager Voicemail received — March 2026
"...after reviewing your request and the details on your case, I do regret to inform you that American Honda will not be able to assist you with the repairs on your vehicle. The vehicle is outside the manufacturer warranty by several years and almost 80,000 miles. Additionally, there are no warranty extensions or recalls related to this specific issue. The only support we can offer is to submit a product complaint on your behalf..."
Our Rebuttal

WHY HONDA
IS WRONG.

📋
This is NOT a warranty claim

Honda's denial cites warranty expiration. This is a manufacturing defect claim. Those are legally different. Warranty periods do not shield manufacturers from defect liability.

📄
Honda's own memos prove prior knowledge

Two internal Priority/Action Required memos — 2023 and 2024 — confirm Honda was actively investigating this exact failure. They cannot claim ignorance.

⚖️
Two federal class actions confirm the pattern

Bissell v. American Honda Motor Co. (Dec 2024) and Alcantara v. American Honda Motor Co. (Jul 2025) — both filed in U.S. District Court in California — allege Honda knew of this defect before vehicles were sold. Two separate lawsuits. Same defect. Same law firms. Honda cannot claim this is isolated.

🚗
Nearly 900,000 miles of loyalty

This customer has driven Honda and Acura vehicles exclusively for 28 years. The failed vehicle has the LOWEST mileage of any Honda he has ever owned.

You're Not Alone

REAL OWNERS.
REAL FAILURES.

These stories come directly from NHTSA complaints, CarComplaints.com, and Honda owner forums. The pattern is undeniable.

"2018 Honda Accord 1.5 turbo engine began shuddering at startup with 59,928 miles. Dealer confirmed head gasket blown. $4,000+ repair. This is a known issue and Honda needs to issue a recall."
2018 Accord 1.5L — North Carolina59,928 mi
"Head gasket failed at only 94,000 miles. Car overheated on the freeway. Took it to dealership. Honda dealer told me they are seeing a lot of this issue but Honda has no plan to issue a recall."
2019 Accord 1.5L — California94,000 mi
"While driving at 65 MPH my vehicle suddenly went into limp mode with multiple warning lights. Dealer diagnosed blown head gasket. Quoted over $5,000. Honda refused to cover it."
2018 Accord — South Carolina78,000 mi
"Honda has been issuing TSBs for years on this issue just to prolong accountability so vehicles get sold and people forget about it. Own up to your design flaw and recall the vehicle."
2019 Accord Owner — NHTSA FilingMultiple TSBs
"I kept telling the Honda dealership something was wrong with my engine every time I went in for an oil change for the past 2 years and they ignored me and told me nothing was wrong."
2018 Accord — NHTSA ComplaintHighway failure
"The head gasket tends to blow as early as 40K miles. Plenty of people have had this problem and yet there is no recall for the engine. Honda needs to do better by their loyal customers."
2018 Accord — CarComplaints.com40K+ failures
The Question No One Is Answering

IS HONDA STILL
THE RELIABLE
CAR OF CHOICE?

For decades, Honda built its entire identity on one promise — reliability. Vehicles that go 200K, 300K miles without breaking down. Engines that outlast their owners. That reputation is why millions of families, including this one, chose Honda exclusively for nearly 30 years.

The Honda We Knew
✓ Engines that regularly reach 300K+ miles
✓ Low maintenance costs across ownership life
✓ Transparent acknowledgment of defects
✓ Standing behind their vehicles
✓ Loyalty rewarded with accountability
What We're Seeing Now
✗ Head gaskets failing at 40K–130K miles
✗ Repair bills of $5,000–$13,000+
✗ Internal memos hidden from consumers
✗ Goodwill denied to loyal long-term owners
✗ No recall despite years of known defect

"Is Honda's track record of reliability going away? Is Honda no longer the long-lasting vehicle of choice for American families? These are questions that remain unanswered — and Honda's silence on this defect makes them impossible to ignore."

One family drove Honda and Acura vehicles for nearly 30 years and nearly 900,000 combined miles without a single major complaint. That track record — and that trust — deserves a better answer than a voicemail denial. The next generation of Honda customers is watching how this gets handled. So are thousands of current owners sitting on a ticking clock with the same 1.5L engine in their driveway.

28
Years of Honda Loyalty
872K
Miles Driven on Honda
0
Prior Complaints Against Honda
1
Denial After
30 Years
Take Action

YOUR VOICE
MATTERS.

The more complaints filed, the stronger the case for a federal recall. Every NHTSA complaint adds to the public record that Honda cannot ignore. It takes 5 minutes and costs nothing.

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